Power takeoff



F. D. DALE Pow'En TAKEOFF sept. 7, 194s.

Filed Jan. 25, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A ...n f ws@ W M Sept. 7, 1948.. F. npALE 2,448,662 I Pom TAKEOF'Pl Sept. 7, 1948- F. b. DALE y I 2,448,662 l PONER TAKEOFF Y Filed Jan. 25. 1945 A Y s sheets-sheet a' INVEN TOR. fpnwag/w am@ PM# Se# v 19e Pom TAKIOFF Frank Douglas Dale, Goldwater, Iam., auignor to Harry Ferguson, Inc., Dearborn, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Y f xpplicsmnflmnm sa 194s. serai No. 514,530

This invention relates to power-take-difs for use with tractors.

Various designs' of power-take-offs with tractors including power-take-offs operated by a shaft connected with 'the crank shaft and passing through the hollow transmission shafthave been proposed. However, many of these power-takeoff designs are undesirable because they have thecontroi members so designed that the operating members are mounted upon the transmission case of the tractor. This is undesirable because s ome of the tractors may be manufactured and sold with a power-take-oif. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved unitary assembly having a supporting housing adapted to be bolted to the transmission case and supporting all of the elements of the power-take-ofi unit. These elements include means for connecting the constantly running driving shaft of the tractor with the driven shaft in the power-take-off unit through a control f 'clutch onA the unit,vthe driving connections Vto a side pulley and a rearwardly extending take-y off shaft, and the clutch control mechanism. In

. the preferred embodiment the latter includes a control rod extending axially through the driven shaft of the take-on assembly.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: Y Y Fig. 1` is a longitudinal section showing the front Vpart of the transmission case including the transmission gears, the clutch and the'iiy wheel of a tractor provided with my improvement.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the gears at the rear of the transmission case and my improved powertakeoif assembly in place.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through/the power-take-oif housing showing the power-take'- off mechanism contained therein` and the associated clutch. 1 v

Fig'. 4 is a cross-section through the samealong line 4--4 of Fis. 3.

Power is derived from the engine crank shaft i mounting a fly wheel 2 which is provided with a conventional clutch l. The clutch includes a. driven disc 4 which is secured to a hollow' transmission shaft 5., This hollow transmission shaft extends rearwardly and'has fixed thereon driving gearsl t, 1, 8 and 9. .Ii-driven shaft il carries slidably mounted driven gears ii and I2 which can be shifted to produce the desired gear ratio. .si the end of the driven shaft In is a spiral-toothed pinion il which meshes with a s calms. (ci. 'x4-11) I lspiral ring gear Il of the differential. A differential pinion ll is journalled in a yoke or Dinion housing Ila. which is driven by ring gear Il and is fast to an output shaft Il. Mounted for rotation with shaft i2 is a spur ge'ar i1 which meshes with a large driven gear i2 attached to an axle section I2. The axle section" carries on its end one of the rear traction wheels of the tractor. This is a tractor transmission in which 10 the differential does not connect directly with the two rear axle shafts, but connects with them by means of reduction gearing on each side of the differential. However. so far as my improvement is concerned, the conventional differential with the direct connection with the rear axles could be used.

Supported inside of the transmission shaft l is a propeller shaft 2l which is splined into the end of the crank shaft at 2|. The propeller shaft is supported in thesame bearing 22 that supports the transmission shaft in the ily wheel 2 and'is also supported in a roller bearing 22 which supports the rear end ofthe transmission shaft L The splined rear end of the propeller shaft 22, 25 projects out of the compartment `that houses the transmission gears and into the differential compartment, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is slipped onto the splined rear end of the propeller shaft 22 a selfenergizing clutch. This has a clutch housing 24 which carries a. driving disc 25 which is pro-` vided with the usual clutch facings 26. On the inside of the housing is the driven disc 21 and on. the outside of the housing, theA driven disc 22. The disc 22 is urged forward against the driving disc 25 by means of the light springs 2,9. A housing 2l carrying the driven members is splined on the end of the` shaft 2l. Disc 21 is kept firmly clamped to the housing 22 by means .40 of the cap screws '22. The rear face of the disc 22 and the front face of the housing 22 'are providedswith aligned dished recesses '22 receiving between them balls 2l. Springs 29 cause the initial engagement of the driven discs 21 and 22 with the driving disc 25. Initial drag causesthe `recesses on the faces of the housing 22 to shift slightly out of alignment as the disc 22 picks up the load of the driven housing 2li. This causes the discs 2l. 21, 22 to be tightly packed together '50 bythe wedging action of the balls on the tapered l walls of the recesses. This is a well-known form sf self-energizing clutch which makes it nossible to `use relatively light packing springs whose function is simply` to give the initial engagement between the driving and thev driven plates, after securely pack the discs together to carry the` heavy load. 'Ihis clutch is assembled with a tight nt upon the intermediate power-take-oif shaft Il so it can be shipped as a part of the power-take-oif unit assembly. When the unit is about to be bolted in place, the driving houslng hub, which is splined, is slid lover the splined end of the propeller shaft and then the housing unit is bolted to the end of the transmission case.

Intermediate shaft :l is supported in roller bearings I and 38. On the end of the shaft il is a beveled gear l31 which meshes with beveled gear 3l (Fig. 2) which is on the end of a `pulley shaft Il (Fig. 4). The pulley shaft carries a belt pulley 4lwhich may be provided with a beit (not shown) to drive any desired machinery.

'I'here is splined on the shaft 3| a spur gear 4| held in place by a lamb nut I2. This gear meshes with a large spur gear ll which is splined on the forward end of a power-take-oif shaft u. This shaft is supported in roller bearings 45 and li. Roller bearings Il, 36, 4i and 46 are supported in the power-take-off housing 41 which isa casting provided with the necessary bearing seats and also provided with seats to seat the roller bearings 48 and I! that support the pulley shaft 3l, This casting has partition walls, etc., to provide the necessary compartments.

-A journal bearing 50 (Fig. 4) is provided ini a cover plate 5i and this supports cam shaft 52 on the outer end of which is a hand lever 53 provided with a spring-operated detent Il that engages in recesses in the cover plate to hold the lever in position. On the end of the cam shaft is a cam or eccentric 55 adapted-.to contact the thrust collar in the form of a ball bearing vIB mounted on the end of a control rod 61 and concentric therewith. When this lever is turned coun-terclockwise (Fig. 3) Ithis pulls rearwardly on the rod 51 which extends forwardly through the intermediate power-take-oif shaft 3|, as shown in Fig. 2. The

thrust collar 56 bears against sleeve 59 which, together with a washer 60, is retained on the rod 51 by nut Si. Adjustment for release .of the-clutch may be had with this nut. Washerl 80 is guided inthe hollow plug 6'2 which is fitted into the end of the power-take-oif housing.

When the clutch control rod 61 is drawn to s the rear by turning down the lever 53, this pulls y on driven disc 28, compresses spring 29 of the clutch and also pulls the 'balls 34 down into the bottom of -the two dished recesses and thereby lining up the recesses. This releases the driving discs from the driven disc and releases the clutch.

It will be noted that the operating lever and the cam are located in the housing that'carries the power-take-off unit so that all these parts are a unitary assembly located in ,the housing. This .housing can be bolted Ato the rear of the transmission casing of the tractor by bolts 64 passing through the flange i3. The power-take-off shaft Il projects from the end of the housing .through an opening at the bearingy 46, which opening is provided with a dust seal 65.' The end of the shaft is splined to receive a universal joint or other drive connection for operating a piece of machinery. This machinery quite often consists of a tractor drawn implement. The end of the shaft its clutch and oneoperating lever. Thus both power-take-oii shafts will be driven when .the clutch is thrown in, one shaft working and the other shaft running idly. 'I'his results in no inconvenience, however, since it is rarely necessary to use both power-take-oif shafts at thel same What I claim is:

1. A power-take-oif unit assembly for use on tractors with a transmission case having an opening at the rear end and provided with a rearwardly extending propeller shaft which is directly connected with the crank shaft and independent of the tractor transmission shaft and clutch, said assembly comprising a housing boltable to said open rear end, a power-take-off, shaft supported in said housing and carrying on its end and arranged to be supported upon and driven by the end of the propeller shaft a second clutch provided with driving and driven members, means for affording packing pressure to the members and means for releasing said packing means, said means including connections passing longitudinally through Ithe said power-take-off shaft and devices by which said connections may be operated to release the clutch. v

2. A power-takc-off unit assembly for use on tractors with a transmission case having an opening at the rear end and provided with a rearwardly extending propeller shaft which is directly connected with the crank shaft and independent of the tractor transmission shaft and clutch, said assembly comprising a housing boltable to said open rear end, a power-take-.off shaft supported in said housing and carrying on its end and arranged to be supported upon and driven by -the end of the propeller shaft a second clutch provided with driving and driven members, means for affording packing pressure to the members and means for releasing said packing means, said means including a rod passing longitudinally through the said power-take-'off shaft and devices by which said rod may be operated to release the clutch.

3. A power-take-off unit assembly-for use on tractors with a transmission case having an opening at the rear end and provided with .a rearwardly extending propeller shaft and which is directly connected with the crank shaft and independent of the tractor transmission shaft and clutch, said assembly comprising a housing boltable to said open rear end, a power-take-oif shaft supported in said housing and carrying on its end and arranged to be supported upon and driven by .the end of the propeller shaft a second clutch promeans including connections passing longitudinally through the s aid power-take-oif shaft and a lever and crank arm by which said connections may be operated rearwardly to release the clutch.

4. A power-take-oi unit assembly for use on tractors with a transmission case having anA opening at the rear end and provided with a rearwardly extending propeller shaft and which is directly connected with the crank shaft and independent of the tractor transmission shaft and clutch, said assembly comprising a housing boltable to said open rear end, a power-take-o shaft supported in said housing and carrying on its end and arranged to be supported upon and driven by the end of the propeller shaft a second clutch provided with driving and driven members, means for affording packing pressure to the members and means for releasing said packing means, said by which said rod may be pulled rearwardly to L' release the clutch.

:Mason 5. A power-take-od unit assembly for -use on tractors with a transmission case having an opening at the rear end and provided with a rearwardly extending propeller shaft which is directly connected with the crank shaft and independent of the tractor transmission shaft and clutch, said assembly comprising a housing boltable to said open rear end. a power-take-oii' shaft supported in said housing to project coaxially toward said Y, propeller shaft at its front end and carrying power output means at its rear end, a second clutch provided with driving and driven discs and arranged to interconnect the opposed ends of said shafts, means for aii'ording packing pressure to the discs, means located wholly in and upon the housing by which the clutch discs may be released, a pinion on the power-take-oif shaft between said front and rear ends thereof, a second power-takeoif shafty supported in the housing and a gear thereon in mesh with the said pinion.

6. A self-contained power takeoff unit. comprising, a housing, a longitudinal operating shaft journaled in said housing, a transverse shaft journaled in said housing rearwardly and to one side of said operating shaft, gearing connecting said operating shaft and said transverse shaft. a belt pulley on the outer end of said transverse shaft, a power takeoff shaft extending parallel with said operating shaft journaled in said housing and having one end extending rearwardly therefrom, said operating shaft having' its forward end extending forwardly from said housing, a clutch element mounted upon the forward end of said operating shaft, a second clutch element cooperating with said iirst clutch element, resilient means normally urging said clutch elements into driving relationship, means on said second clutch element to engage a drive shaft, clutch actuating means comprising a rod slidably and axially mounted in said operating shaft and extending rearwardly thereof, a second transverse shaft journaled in said housing and having a cam at its inner end adapted to engage said rod and retract said rod longitudinally to disengage said clutch elements, and an-externai operating handle on the outer end of said second transverse shaft.

FRANK DOUGLAS DALE.

REFERENCES crrED The following references are of. recordin the iile of this patent:`

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

